USA and USA reserves

[Roehl Sybing]

I neglected to respond the other day as to why I thought there wasn't this huge dropoff between our full strength side and our reserves.

As it stands, the only thing that separates our A team from our B team is a sense of teamwork and organization. With the exception of Berhalter (I have concluded that I'm going to bear down on him as long as I draw breath), our backline is occupied with skilled individuals, but there is no one to organize in the back, keep things in order and at all times stay behind the ball and/or the lead opponent. Pope does that very well for the US, and yes, Agoos is slower than ketchup, but even he did well in keeping his fellow defenders on their toes.

The same with the midfield. No one assumes leadership when JOB and Reyna are absent. Otherwise, our midfield is quite capable because of its individual players.

Anyways, that's what I think. Just small things that kept the US from getting the results they wanted last week. Hardly requires rebuilding, just some very slight retooling and a bit more seasoning.

[Ictar]

That's one of the reasons the drop off is so huge is the mental aspect of it. Martino was so successful because of that. Unlike Donovan when he came in, Martino constantly showed for the ball from the defense, so they wouldn't have to just boot the ball up field, and when Donovan got the ball he didn't hold it and slow the play down like a midfield orchestator does. Donovan is a better athlete than Martino and probably has better ball skill, too, but he wasn't as effective.


It's not the leadership, it's just knowing how to be the calming midfielder that generally seperates our A and B team. A calming midfield presence changes a lot of our style of play. When Armas or Califf or Berhalter doesn't see a pass spring up immediately, what do they do? They backpass or send a VERY hopefuly long ball up top. Martino showed up more than once to make sure they had an easy pass to make. JOB and Reyna do this, too.